Prior to the March 4 interim elections, a perky young woman named Jil Adams had manned phone banks as questions poured in from all over the country. Owner of a string of neighborhood bars in northeastern Indiana and southern Michigan, Adams was used to dealing with "cranky" people, A beautiful pony-tailed blonde with intense blue eyes that could stare a hole through most men's hearts, Adams possessed a rare combination of tenacity, beneficence, sensuality, and diffidence. The bar business had been an uphill struggle for her, and these past few years had taxed her energy as she quickly (perhaps too quickly) acquired three new properties within twenty-seven months. At the behest of two friends, Ron Oetting and Phil Baker, she had come to St. Kitts to volunteer for the phone work, more out of a need to get away. Frankly, she had little interest in politics or the way government was managed. Her work did not go unoticed, however, and O.U.T.R.A.G.E. members who worked with her admired her panache, patience, and professionalism. She managed to cool even the hottest tempers, soothe the most tortured souls, and calm the most worried warts.
A week after his election as Interim President, Colin Powell approached Adams just a few days before she was planning to return to the Midwest. "I know you've got businesses to run," he said sharply, "but this rag-tag O.U.T.R.A.G.E. organization could use someone with your skills." They went off to a corner of the huge O.U.T.R.A.G.E. headquarters and huddled with a few other O.U.T.R.A.G.E. personnel. It had been a long, hard road for the hundreds of thousands of O.U.T.R.A.G.E. members who had worked tirelessly since the discreet plans first started being made that would alter the course of United States history, and perhaps change the world. Now, weary O.U.T.R.A.G.E. members - especially those in the field - were beginning to burn out. No one had ever expected that they would be dealing with the aftermath of a hurricane and earthquake on top of the massive devastation they had created on January 17. Cracks had begun showing up in the O.U.T.R.A.G.E. infrastructure, one of the most embarrassing being when O.U.T.R.A.G.E. members misidentified two victims of freak accidents in Indiana and Iowa as Oetting and Baker. Powell thought it was time to invigorate the O.U.T.R.A.G.E. "troops" around the country, and he had tagged Adams as the kind of "party planner" that could get the job done. He had already sent an entourage of movie stars and celebrities to Iraq and Iran to try and boost the spirits of demoralized U.S. soldiers in those war-torn countries; he felt it was prudent to do the same thing for those who had touched off the 'Rebellion o '08'. Powell, however, was very clear: "I don't want these events to come off looking like wild parties or crazy political conventions," he warned. "These must be done in good taste, drenched with a good dose of good old-fashioned patriotism. You'll need to find a way to celebrate the rebirth of a great nation while, at the same time, memorializing those who were victims of the revolution. I have every confidence that you, Jil, can put a program together that would be perfect." Powell explained that, while O.U.T.R.A.G.E. funds were certainly not inexhaustible, Adams would be given sufficient budgets for each event. He presented her with a list of fifty locations - one event to be held in each state. Each list also had names and addresses of all O.U.T.R.A.G.E. members living in a particular state - perhaps the very first time such a roster had ever been made available to anyone.
"This is the kind of tonic that's needed," Powell explained. "It's your job to infuse a new enthusiasm, and you can effuse just the right blends of vitality and vigor. I'm counting on you, Jil. I hope you'll take a day or two to consider this offer, and get back to me. I'd like to start these programs by April 15." Jil looked at the calendar watch on a golden pendant draped from her neck: today was Wednesday, April 9, 2008.
Immediately, she began assembling a team of coordinators and assistants who could help her with everything from event planning to site searches. She found no shortage of volunteers; O.U.T.R.A.G.E. would, of course, provide a bus that would transport the personnel to each locale; a convoy of unmarked semi trucks would follow, filled with supplies, materials, and equipment necessary for each event. It was Jil's "dream job"...and, at the same time, it was an opportunity for her to serve her country in a truly unique way suited to her professional skills and spectacular talents. It took non-stop work, but the first event was scheduled for Tuesday, April 15, in - of all places - Elko, Nevada.
Once a railroad and cattle town, Elko was also a point where big-name entertainment used to congregate before Las Vegas and Reno and Tahoe became the gaming meccas of the western world. Bing Crosby was once named honorary mayor of Elko, and occasionally showed up at the local Catholic church to sing his favorite hymns . Now, with a population of about 20,000, Elko had reinvented itelf as an "alternative" to the glamour and glitz of the big Nevada gambling cities. Las Vegas was getting too crowded for many. Elko was reminiscent of the wild, wild west, where you could still buy a saddle for your stalwart steed (although today it costS $2,500 instead of the $500 it cost 30 years ago). The Commercial Hotel-Casino bartered for patrons, as did the hookers who worked at one of the five legal brothels in town. Just outside of the city limits was the 200,000-acre Maggie Creek Ranch which raises cattle and brings a pungent aroma to the surrounding atmosphere. Truly characterized by elements straight out of the old west, still fiercely independent and rigidly unreceptive to anything that might smack of contemporary politics, Elko was perhaps the perfect place to kick off the O.U.T.R.A.G.E. events.
Jil Adams had some stupendous ideas! Her eyes sparkled, her smile broadened. She was definitely up to this challenge!